Superb Second Place in Sepang for Alex Rins (Industry Press Releases)

• Alex Rins rockets up standings, and brings Suzuki third podium in a row.• Andrea Iannone very unlucky with crash on opening lap.• Team SUZUKI ECSTAR end fly-aways on a high.

The 18th round of the 2018 MotoGP Championship got underway in blazing hot temperatures in front of over 100,000 fans. With a constant threat of rain and a track temperature of over 50c it was to be a challenging 20 laps.

Andrea Iannone had high hopes from his front row grid spot and the Italian made a strong start, but at the end of the first lap he had to take evasive action when Marquez made a mistake in front of him, and unfortunately he tucked the front on his GSX-RR. Iannone was luckily uninjured.

Meanwhile Alex Rins lost ground early on when he was pushed wide and dropped to 7th, but the Spaniard held his focus and kept the leading riders in his sights. On Lap 5 he set the fastest lap of the race and before long he had worked his way into 4th place. With just four laps remaining Rins was promoted to 3rd place when Rossi went down, but he continued to fight until the chequered flag and managed an excellent 2nd place. This moved him up five positions in the standings to 5th, and gave Team SUZUKI ECSTAR their 3rd consecutive podium – making them the only team to achieve the rostrum in all three fly-away races.

Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager“Finally everything was OK and we did a good job. Today is a bitter sweet feeling because both riders had great pace but sadly Andrea couldn’t finish the race – I’m sure he would’ve also fought for the podium. But Alex managed to achieve 2nd and we’re so happy because it’s our third consecutive podium and we’ve had two second places in a row. I really want to thank everyone involved in this project, this season has been so positive. In the final race we hope to achieve that one thing we’ve been missing…”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager“Of course we’re very happy! We took another podium, our eighth of the season! It’s great that our riders have had four podiums each, it’s good news for us and for all of Suzuki. I want to congratulate Alex for keeping his head down and fighting until the end to take 2nd position, it was excellent. I’m very sorry for Andrea because he could’ve been fighting for the podium too but he incurred in a very unlucky crash. I would like to say a big thank you to all the Team staff that are working very hard on improving our level and of course to all the Japanese guys back in the factory. We are living a positive moment and now we look forward to the last race of the year!”

Alex Rins “I feel very happy because our race pace was strong and I was able to close the gaps to the other riders and pass them during the race. I still had very good pace even in the last few laps because I was able to manage the tyres well, but I lost time earlier in the race so that made it more difficult. We’re working really hard and we have found important things and learned more for next year. I’m very excited to go to Valencia, especially as we are feeling very strong with the bike now, and Suzuki deserve to end the season on a high.”

Andrea Iannone“I’m a bit disappointed because we had the chance to take another podium, but I don’t want to focus on what happened today. I always try to think positively, and the good things are that I had strong pace and I had a really good feeling with the bike after the team and I worked hard together. So I’ll just remain focused on the last race of the season and I will give my all to have a good result there.”